Blind Spots

Everyone’s Got ‘Em

Why is it that things like god and the bible, which seem obviously ancient and outdated beliefs - created by people for understandable reasons at the time - still remain as truths for seemingly evolved, intelligent people? Huge chunks of people.

It’s not that science knows much, but what little we have learned renders many old perspectives clearly inaccurate. So, why do many, nevertheless, stubbornly cling to them? Why perpetuate prehistoric human mythology onto current reality? Why wear three layers of wool and fur in the New York summer just because five generations ago that’s what was valued in Siberia?

I’ve met and read about many religious people who seem smarter than me. They seem to know at least as much as I do in both religious and mainstream knowledge bases, seem to recall more, express themselves more clearly than I do, and are at least as capable of complex thought. What’s going on with them that’s not going on with me? Why do they maintain religious beliefs while I dismiss them? How can they think there’s some indescribable “intelligent” entity that’s crafted the universe, and which once communicated with humans in this vast universe, no longer does, but still cares? How can they convince themselves they believe there’s a document that’s that entity’s manual for humans?

And then I thought about my nose. The nose. Everyone’s nose.

Most people have one. Interestingly, we don’t seem to see our own nose.

That’s right. Look forward as you usually do. See your nose?

Now let’s rewind. Look down at your nose. You can see it. As you look forward, it’s not that you don’t see it anymore. Your brain has learned to white it out, the way smart graphic programs now remove unwanted elements from images. It edits out the portion of nose technically in your line of sight, since the mind assumes you don’t want or need to see it. And so, unless you intentionally try to see it, it’s “not there” as you look out onto the world.

It’s possible, I figured, that for some, the mind whites out, learns to ignore, and then no longer can see, anything that questions religious perspectives. It’s not that they aren’t smart. The question or perspective simply does not arise.

Perspective, knowledge, awareness, logic… they’re all there. But the mind knows it’s not desired or useful, so it removes it from the mental field.

Communal religious belief provides so much – identity, belonging, meaning, moral structure - that questioning it feels counterproductive to the religious mind. So, whatever illogic I see in religious belief, their mind has been programmed to not process it.

Apparently, both the nose - and the knows - get edited out.